As a man who is willing to pay a premium to try out stuff like this at least to see if I like it or if I believe there is any type of quality improvement, something that disappoints is that it seems to play to traditional male & female fragrance stereotypes.

For example, I really like lavender scented things, and don’t really care if it’s not traditionally masculine. But all these new “lootkit-like” popup brands, like Birchbox or this brand, seem to pigeonhole the intended customer base in a way that seems needlessly overly specific.

I guess I can’t argue if it turns out to be profitable for them. But I’d imagine the types of men who would consider this in the first place are less worried about whether this stuff looks Traditionally Masculine, like the obligatory section of dark-hued, woodsy and musky products you see tucked in some corner of a Sephora or the fragrance section of a department store.

Why not just focus on making nice, quality things of a wide variety, and let people choose? Why does the business have to be fundamentally _about_ one particular stylization of “masculine” home goods?